Haunted by a Sith
by Lilly Lone
Summary: AU. After his death, Anakin Skywalker's Force-Ghost discovers his wife and children, whom he thought dead, are alive and in hiding, but most of all, in need of him. He will try to communicate with his wife so he can gain, if not her love, her forgiveness. The Force Ghost will mostly be feared by Padmé, who can't forget how evil the Sith was...
1. Prologue

**Summary: AU. After his death, Anakin Skywalker's Force-Ghost discovers his wife and children, whom he thought dead, are alive and in hiding, but most of all, in need of him. He will try to communicate with his wife so he can gain, if not her love, her forgiveness.**

 **The Force Ghost will mostly be feared by Padmé, who can't forget how evil the Sith was...**

 **Okay, so I've seen a lot of fanfics inspired by songs or using song lyrics to help tell a story, I thought I might give that a try with my favorite romantic tragedy: Star Wars, of course!**

 **The song is called Ghost and is performed by the incredible Ella Henderson.**

 **-Obviously I don't own neither the song nor Star Wars-**

 **This is also my first fan fiction, so be easy on me, please!**

* * *

 _Prologue_

After Anakin Skywalker turned to the dark side and became Darth Vader, he was left to think his wife and child died at his hands, on reality, Padmé ran away with her twins, a boy named Luke and a girl named Leia. When Vader _'learned'_ of what happened to his beloved family, he couldn't stand the pain and anger, so in an incredible outburst of rage, he killed Darth Sidious, and then, himself. In doing so, he fulfilled the prophecy, as he killed the last of the Sith.

Anakin had been told many times of the probability of being THE CHOSEN ONE, but he never quite understood what it meant. He didn't know he was literally born from the Force, so he was surprised when after leaving his physical body, his mind and conscience remained.

Was Anakin Skywalker a Jedi or a Sith when he died?

It doesn't matter.

He was destined for the light as much as he was the darkness.

One might say, that since he was the boy from the prophecy, he never even had a choice. He was meant to destroy the Jedi as much as he was to destroy the Sith.

He and Padmé were doomed from the start.

For all is as the Force wills it.

The Jedi order was destroyed.

The Sith were also erased.

The Force was finally at balance.

And Anakin's twins were meant to maintain that balance.


	2. Chapter 1

_**I keep going to the river to pray**_

' _ **Cause I need something that can wash out the pain**_

 _ **And at most**_

 _ **I'm sleeping all these demons away**_

 _ **But your ghost, the ghost of you**_

 _ **It keeps me awake**_ …

In front of a small, humble cottage, deep inside a forest in Naboo, hidden from all imperial eyes, Padmé Amidala sits with her two babies, singing them a song her own mother used to rock her to as a small child.

That is a woman who will soon be thirty, and her twins will soon reach three years of age.

Those kids are all that remain of light and sanity to the former queen and senator.

She keeps singing, trying to keep her focus… but then… oh, it happens again!

She hears that voice calling to her, the voice of someone who is no longer alive.

She must keep herself sane, not for her sake, but for those who need her, her beloved children.

But it is hard when she has no one to talk to almost all the time. To the public and to her family, she's dead. It was announced shortly after she gave birth, that her life and that of her children were lost. Naboo's tradition of cremating bodies came in handy at that time.

For the last three years, she's remained alone with her twins in that desolate place, with only Obi-Wan Kenobi paying her a few visits every so often. She lives mostly with what she has around her, which is actually quite a lot. She has a garden with lots of vegetables; the woods have all kinds of delicious fruits, a nearby river of clean fresh water, and her own milk that had been enough for Luke and Leia for all their short lives. Of course she knows she's not going to be able of keeping them hidden there forever, but for now… for now she can sleep safe at night, or at least she used to.

Because lately she started having dreams, at least she thought they were dreams, in which her deceased husband comes to her, trying to speak to her, asking her for forgiveness, or better said, begging her.

And by now, she knows what to do.

Not listen to him/it. But to run to the river and throw water into her face. Yelling at herself to keep her mind together; to let go of him and his memory. To focus only on her present day. To leave Anakin behind, so his ghost can disappear, and stop tormenting her.

The first time it happened it was at night.

The dead silence was broken by that voice so familiar to her…

"Padmé?" she had heard.

There was no way anyone could've found her whereabouts. Only Obi-Wan knew and he would never betray her.

She was trembling and almost cried out, but she feared more than anything, to scare her children. So she stood up, quiet, and ready to die.

She couldn't forget what happened the last time she saw her husband.

He had tried to kill her.

 _ **My friends had you figured out**_

 _ **They saw what's inside of you**_

 _ **You tried hiding another you**_

 _ **But your evil was coming through…**_

She probably should've known her marriage wasn't meant to give them long-term happiness.

They both knew from the start that they were treading a thin line.

A Senator and a Jedi getting married… What were they even thinking?

They weren't, that's the problem.

They were too in love to even reason.

They chose to believe they could be happy together because they needed to.

And they did have happiness—sometimes.

They married at the beginning of a war and they were separated until the end of it. So it's not like they had the most peaceful relationship in the world. But was it happy? When they were together—as much as a human can.

Even though Anakin often showed his violent and hateful behavior, she was blind to see it.

He never lied.

 _"I slaughtered them like animals!"_ he had confessed.

Even after that, throughout the Clone Wars, he often cooled her blood, making her think, "Who's in there? That can't be Anakin!" and maybe it wasn't.

Anakin didn't kill.

Anakin didn't lie.

Anakin didn't threaten.

It was Vader…

Vader was the one who was jealous; he was the one who thought she had betrayed him. It was the one who…

 _ **These eyes sitting on the wall**_

 _ **They watch every move I make**_

 _ **Bright light living in the shade**_

 _ **Your cold heart makes my spirit shake…**_

Whenever Padmé and Anakin ran into each other during the war, they were as friendly yet distant as they could.

"Morning, my lady."

"Hello, master Jedi."

A pleasant smile, maybe a handshake, but that was it.

She used to lose sleep thinking about what would happen if the Jedi discovered their secret marriage. He would be expelled, of course, while she, well, her career would've been over.

But they both ignored every risk.

They thought it was worth it. And well, it was. That is, until…

Until she found out she was pregnant.

She couldn't be selfish anymore, she couldn't just think of her own happiness. She needed to be responsible and stop making excuses for her husband. Stop turning an eye blind.

But everything seemed so perfect. Oh, how did things get so messed up so quickly? How did everything fall apart? The Order, the Republic, their lives…

She can still be as hurt by Obi-Wan's words, that revealed Anakin's actions, as on the day she first learned them. She learned to know whom she was married to.

Anakin turned to the Dark Side.

He became a Sith lord.

He betrayed them all.

The words still sound as ridiculous and unbelievable as they did then.

But they're true. All of them.

Of course they didn't make sense at the time. So she had to run to him, make her confirm all Obi-Wan said were lies, and when he didn't, he broke her heart. He destroyed her spirit as much as he destroyed the Jedi Order.

She knew he was capable of murder: women, and children, anyone whom he wanted to, so why was she so surprised that night the Republic fell?

Hard to say…

But when she learned that he didn't show mercy not even to the younglings, oh how much it still hurt!

And then Anakin… or Vader?

Well, it doesn't matter. The point is, she almost lost her life.

In the end though, it was Anakin who died.

So how could she believe, after mourning him so much, that her husband had returned? Surely she just lost her mind. But it seems so real, and it feels…

She can't think of it as a dream anymore. She also can't think that she's lost her mind. She now accepts what she thinks it's the truth, what she thinks it's her reality, Vader's ghost is haunting her. She can't think of it as Anakin, because the last time they met, he was Vader, he was a Sith lord, who tried to kill her. She sheds tears as she remembers the expression on that man she loved so much, as he prevented her from breathing, as he—as he almost killed Luke and Leia, too! Oh, no! Oh, no! She cries— a Sith is haunting her.

###

For a moment, Padmé actually loses her mind.

She looks at her own reflection on the river, and she sees as her tears fall into the water. She trembles, and she knows no one is there with her—her children were asleep in their humble cribs—

But on the reflection in the water, she sees Anakin's face.

"My love!" she hears, and it—it definitely sounds like him, but it can't be. She must remember, that is Darth Vader with her, or at least, the Sith's ghost.

"Leave me alone!" she cries.

"Please, listen to me! That is all I ask, though is much less than I deserve. Please Padmé, just hear me out."

 _ **I had to go through hell to prove I'm not insane  
Had to meet the devil just to know his name…**_

"Why must you come to me of all people?" was one of the first things Padmé let out, after agreeing to listen to what Vader had to say.

"Because I failed you the most." His ethereal voice had the most pain and guilt she had ever heard.

She had sat on the blue-green grass, with her long brown hair to one side, her arms crossed and her head down. Likewise, the ghost sat next to her, regarding her lovingly and sorrowfully, hoping that at some point, their eyes could meet.

She was annoyed at his silence.

After so many nights in which he appeared screaming her name, begging for her to listen, and now that she had agreed… he was mute?

"You know, you've really scared me," she said, because she just couldn't stand that awkward silence anymore.

"I'm sorry," the ghost said.

"Sorry… I guess that's all you wanted to say—"

"No! I mean yes, but not all of it."

"Well speak!"

"Padmé, I understand you being angry at me…"

"Angry?" she interrupted. "I don't know if that's the feeling I would use to describe how you left me, how you make me feel."

"Tell me. How did I leave you? How do I make you feel, my love?"

The feeling was sinking deeply in her heart. It hurt so bad she thought she was going to die right there.

And he called her, _'My Love'…_ Oh, why Anakin?

She needed to say that name, even if she thought he wasn't there.

"Oh, Anakin!" tears were falling down her pale cheeks. "Broken! That's how you left me! On the brink of death! Abandoned! Afraid! Alone! Why did you act that way? You didn't love me anymore? Wasn't I enough for you? And our children—you even tried to hurt them! I could forgive you trying to take away my life, because my life was yours," it still is and will always be. "But that of my children? Never! I could never forgive you for that!"

She felt her heart beating fast and had to put a hand on her chest to stop it or somewhat control it. When it ceased, she passed her palms through her face, cleaning her bitter burning tears.

Finally, she could raise her head and regard the ghost, and she saw, he was crying as much as she was.

It didn't look like Vader, nor Anakin, really.

She felt she had never been in that presence before.

It was very strange.

Silence prevailed again.

Sometime after, Padmé sighed deeply, and again was the one who was brave enough to break the silence.

"Will you ever dare say what you have to say?"

The Ghost could not face her. "I'm starting to think—not."

"Then I will go."

"No. Don't."

She had tried to get up to leave him, but the Ghost put a hand on her arm, preventing her.

She shuddered. Touching him was a queer cold feeling.

"I must be heard," the Ghost said. "And I must see you and touch you… Padmé. I'm sorry. I know I said that before, but I really don't think I can't ever apologize enough."

"I think you have. But what are you exactly apologizing for? I'm sure I only know half of what you did, and to be honest, I don't want to know. Keep your dark deeds a secret from me, please. Just tell me, why?"

"That's what I've been meaning to say… I—I did it all for you. For my love to you." He waited but couldn't prevent himself from finishing with, "My love."

She blinked strongly. "Are you blaming me…?"

"No! That's not what I mean. Padmé, do you remember the dreams I told you about, after you told me you were pregnant?"

She stopped to think, and then… Yes, yes she did.

She nodded.

"You didn't take them very seriously, but they were eating my mind. I knew, I knew they weren't just dreams. They were premonitions, and they were meant to come real, depending on my actions; of course, that last part I didn't know then."

She remembered his face, all afraid after baring his soul to her… and she had pretty much just ignored him, now it was her turn to feel guilty.

"I was sure they would come true, because I had experienced them before, with my mother. You know how much I loved her, and how much it hurt me—but I will not get into that now. Just know, that's why I took my nightmares so seriously. And I just couldn't lose you, Padmé. My mind couldn't even wrap around the idea that you would be gone, that I would be left to go on in a world without you, and without my child…"

He saw her jump a little.

"You might not believe me, but I wanted that baby as much as you. Of course I didn't know they were twins. Do not be afraid, I know they survived and that they're with you, but I will not go near them against your will."

She seemed to breathe more easily.

"I wanted for us to raise our family together, and I knew the Jedi weren't ever going to let us. Don't look so afraid, please. I know what I say scares you, but it takes away my focus to see you so troubled."

She tried to look calmer, but how could she? When she sensed he was about to tell her of how he betrayed the Jedi. She didn't know every detail, but Obi-Wan did inform her of Order Sixty-Six.

"I sought master Yoda for advice, and that he gave me. I just couldn't take it. He said, 'train yourself to let go of everything that you fear to lose'. I could barely keep myself from snapping at him. Let go of my wife and child? Never! I could've never done that. So I had to find a solution elsewhere. And I thought I had, in the Temple's archives. I knew there was information there that could maybe be useful, but only masters had access to it. So when Palpatine requested for me to be his representative in the Council, I thought I had at last found a way to save you."

The mention of Palpatine's name made her paler than death. Still he went on.

"But they didn't make me a Jedi Master, even if I was allowed to be on the Council. I am not gonna lie to you, Padmé, my pride and ego were hurt. But more than anything, my hope of saving you."

Her heart, that had been dormant for three years, was opening to feelings of tenderness and love, beyond those of a mother.

"I couldn't give up, Padmé, and I was truly growing desperate. And then, another door seemed to open in front of me. I heard a story, a story that to this day I don't know how much truth there is to it. Darth Plagueis' legend. Yes, that's a Sith legend. But don't look so afraid, I never got to learn of that dark power. But I wanted to. I desperately wanted to. I needed the dark side, I needed that knowledge. I needed to save you and our child."

Padmé was shedding tears again. How could she had been so blind, as to not see the agony her husband lived through for the last days of his life?

"And so, I joined the Dark Side. But please don't be so quick to judge me, I didn't do it immediately, though I certainly wanted to. After Palpatine revealed himself as the Sith lord we were looking for, I almost killed him—but I couldn't. I needed him to live so I could use his knowledge. And I knew it was wrong. The temptation was so strong that afternoon that I just had to flee his office. I knew I couldn't be trusted as to stay with him, so I went to the Jedi Temple. You must know Padmé, I really tried to be good, I tried to give the light another chance. But, my love—my love for you was stronger than anything else in me. Stronger than my loyalty to the Republic and Jedi; stronger than my humanity. Simply stronger than even the Light Side of the Force. I had already informed master Windu of what I learned, I knew the Sith would be destroyed, but I couldn't allow it. I thought that with him you died too. I could see it in my head, as if I were there witnessing it, your death…"

Padmé saw the Ghost shed mad tears again.

"I went back to the Senate building, I entered Palpatine's office, I passed through dead Jedi, and I should've helped master Windu defeat Darth Sidious—but I didn't. I chose to save you. And with that, I doomed the galaxy and the Jedi, and myself. I pledged myself to the Sith."

Padmé was frightened, seeing the Ghost speak now so calmly of such matters, yet she couldn't stop paying attention to it.

"Darth Vader was my new name. And he was like a different person. He wasn't a stranger to me, though. I had already seen glimpses of him through the years, as you did, my poor dear love!"

"Anakin!" Padmé cried, and now she truly believed it was him she loved so much next of her.

"Darth Vader was too powerful for even me. He was ruled by the Dark Side. By every strong dark emotion. By his anger, hatred and jealousy…he—I thought, truly, that you had betrayed me. I thought that you brought Obi-Wan to kill me. And the anger and jealousy possessed Vader, and he possessed me. And I attacked you. I didn't even think. I just did it. Sidious never told me of the consequences of that new power, for I wasn't the one using the Dark Side. The Dark Side was using me. I realized that when it was too late. It's hard to remember what happened. I remember Obi-Wan's words that inflamed my hatred even further. I remember parts of our duel, in which he won. I remember the fire and lava of Mustafar. And then… a mask that was put on me. Unbearable pain that lasted for I don't know how many days. Which still, wasn't anything compared to what I felt, when Sidious told me what I did. He told me I killed you."

Her heart stopped for a second.

Her mind was in extreme turmoil.

It was just too much information to be processed in such a short time.

"I killed him," the Ghost said at last. "And then, I killed myself."

Padmé gasped.

"But unlike most people, I wasn't relieved with death. I wasn't resting. I could see the state of the galaxy. The remains of the Empire were still hurting and destroying and I knew it was in big part my fault. I visited the Jedi Temple and saw that it was nothing but ruins. I went to—to your 'grave'. I wanted to sense you or at least try to. I knew you weren't there. Luckily I wasn't all alone. An old friend found me through the Force, and he explained a few things. Master Qui-Gon Jinn…"

She felt relieved at knowing that not everything was pure pain and loneliness to him.

"And there was someone I needed to be at peace with. The last person I thought I had left—whom I also hurt and almost destroyed. My old master. I looked for Obi-Wan and he wasn't so impossible to find. I used the Force, and our old connection, plus my new powers and abilities, helped me find him. We made peace. He forgave me and we had a goodbye. Still I couldn't totally let go of him," the Ghost laughed. "Why was I still unable of letting go of attachments? Sometimes I watched him, he was unaware of it. And one day I—I saw him go to Naboo. I was curious so see what he'll do there. And when I saw him arrive to your cottage, when I saw you again…alive and with—with our children! Padmé, at that moment I was almost at peace. I think I will soon be."

She got closer to the Ghost, unafraid of his strange texture.

"I forgive you!" she cried. "Anakin, my love, I truly, and deeply forgive you! I love you and I've missed you so much! I'm sorry, too. This isn't all your fault. I'm to blame as well! I wasn't there for you. I should've known something was so wrong. I, too, abandoned you. Forgive me Anakin!"

 _ **And that's when my love was burning  
It is still burning…**_

The Ghost stood up, he had an odd shade of blue but it was still pretty much the Anakin Skywalker Padmé remembered. Tall, heroic in appearance, handsome, oh so damn handsome! He was still her Anakin, her beautiful husband.

She tried to throw her arms around his neck, she tried to make her lips meet his, but—oh, what was happening?

That wasn't a human being she had with her.

The Force Ghost vanished as she tried to love him like when he was a red-blooded man.

The emotional pain that accumulated in Padmé's heart was similar to the physical one Anakin had to endure in Mustafar.

She never knew that!

Obi-Wan never said that Anakin… Anakin was burned alive!

"Come back!" Padmé cried. "Please, Ani. I beg you, come back to me!"


	3. Chapter 2

_**I keep going to the river to pray**_

' _ **Cause I need something that can wash out the pain**_

 _ **And at most I'm sleeping all these demons away**_

 _ **But your ghost, the ghost of you**_

 _ **It keeps me awake…**_

Day after day, Padmé waited for the Force Ghost to appear again, and every time, she was disappointed.

She cried tears that felt like blood through her cheeks, thinking of all the pain her husband had to go through.

She prayed Luke and Leia wouldn't ever meet such a tragic end.

Once the twins were asleep, she sneaked out of the cottage, and she went to the river. She waited to see Anakin's reflection behind hers… but she was all alone.

"My love," she said. "Even if it is just once, please Anakin, come to me!"

Every day after the twins were asleep, she did the same thing, she said the same prayer, but the ghost never appeared.

She was really losing it.

Why did he have to come back at all?

How was she supposed to come to terms with his death, when she knew he could appear at any time?

There wasn't ever going to be a day or night when she didn't expect him.

She was doomed to wait forever.

And she didn't mind, if it meant she would at some point be with him again.

Her love was becoming, like once Anakin's did, an obsession.

 _ **Each time that I think you're gone**_

 _ **I turn around and you're creeping in**_

 _ **And I let you under my skin**_

 _ **Cause I love living innocent…**_

After feeding Luke and Leia, she talked to them about their father.

She omitted quite a few details that she was already forgetting or pretending to forget. Never mind the Sith lord, never mind the Jedi.

He was Anakin Skywalker, the man she loved and who she knew would come.

Whenever she heard any strange noise, she would open her eyes widely and cry Anakin's name.

The twins were growing accustomed to that activity.

Even they would scream, "Anakin!" when they thought someone was approaching, and each time, their mother would drop everything in the moment to go meet her deceased lover.

If an animal walked by their small cottage you would hear "Anakin!"

If the wind moved doors or curtains you would hear "Anakin!"

Any noise that wasn't caused by Padmé, Luke or Leia, was followed by that loud cry, full of hope, longing and desperation.

The kids were starting to hate that name.

Because every time Padmé shouted it, the fact that no man appeared, made the young widow shed violent and inconsolable tears.

It was some time after Luke and Leia's fifth birthday, they were becoming old enough to find a strange quality in their mother's behavior. They were smart and kind, but they wished for their mother to be happier.

Leia always found her beautiful, but sad.

So very sad.

Luke was a little bit too aloof around her.

They were in need of someone to guide them.

That someone was waiting for the right time.

He was waiting…

But he would come.

And when at last he did, the twins had in front of them a complete stranger.

It was a glorious morning in Naboo.

Leia was outside playing with some animals, talking and singing to them.

Luke was in his bedroom, running around, pretending to be a fine warrior, saving lives.

Padmé was resting on her bed, looking at the ceiling, thinking of a day long gone. It was the same day she thought about all the time; the day Darth Vader was born. She couldn't help but to think of her conversation with the Sith Lord in Mustafar, when he tried to kill her…

"Luke!" she suddenly heard from her daughter's mouth.

"What?" the boy asked loudly.

"Come here!"

"Shut up!" Padmé cried.

"Padmé," a male voice said.

Her heart raced.

She got up and immediately went outside.

"Hello there," the newcomer said when he saw her.

"Obi-Wan… Hi" she said sadly.

"Is everything all right?"

It broke her heart to see someone wearing Jedi robes.

"Yes, fine," she lied. "Why do you ask?"

"Why are you so short with the children?"

"I just don't like hearing them screaming. I always tell them to speak calmly, unless it's an emergency."

"I would count this as one."

"What?" she sounded frightened. "What do you mean?"

"Padmé, I've come for you."

"For me?"

"For all of you."

"Why? Is this place not safe anymore? Oh, Obi-Wan, I don't want to leave Naboo!"

"I am afraid no place in the galaxy will be completely safe until the Empire is stopped."

She lowered her head in disinterest.

"You know I don't care about politics anymore. If that's what you've come here for…"

"Padmé, the Rebel Alliance needs you."

"No. Only my kids need me."

"For Luke and Leia, we need to work together to make this a better place for everyone…"

"Stop, Obi-Wan. I don't care about the rebellion."

"You practically helped found it."

"I still was a senator. Then."

"Padmé, I've come for them and you. I can't force you but… the galaxy needs them-besides, Anakin wants me to train them—"

"What?!" she blurted out. "How do you… did Anakin…?"

"Yes, he asked me."

"You're lying. Does he… does he ever… talk to you?"

"Very often."

"Oh!" she cried. "He never comes here!"

"Padmé you must be reasonable and…"

"Shut up! Leave! Leave my house right now!"

"Padmé, listen to me. Luke and Leia must be trained!

"Never! I will never allow it. If Anakin wants them to be Jedi, he has to come and say it himself!"

"Padmé, my dear… he's dead."

"I don't care! He can come! I know it. I know he can!"

Padmé spoke like a true mad person.

Obi-Wan Kenobi noticed the way the twins regarded their mother, with strong fear and deep sorrow. He needed to save them. But he couldn't just take them from the only family they knew. He considered taking them to Padmé's family, or even Anakin's in Tatooine seemed a better option, but he knew she wouldn't let them.

"Padmé, I worry about you here, all alone… maybe it's time for you to go back to your family, your sister is now living in a great house in Theed…"

"No!" she screamed and the kids jumped. "If he looks for me, he will come here! I can't move."

"Padmé, Anakin is gone. But you're still alive and you're so young, still. For your kids' sake, take care of you. If you ever want to, there is still a place for you in the Republic."

"The Republic is dead, Obi-Wan!" as was her sanity.

"It can be revived. If we fight for it—"

"Shhh! Shut up!" she interrupted.

Her eyes wandered.

"He's coming!" she cried.

"What?"

"Ani…" she muttered.

Obi-Wan stroked his beard, now with a few glimpses of grey, in amazement. It was hard to see her, once a proud queen and smart senator of the Old Republic, now a heartbroken leftover of Padmé Amidala. Anakin's last evil deed.

He saw her run to the window and stare at nothing, waiting for the ghost to appear, he saw her walk around the poor living room, trying to catch a glimpse of him, he also heard her call for him, a man long dead. It was chilling to think that woman took care of the galaxy's last hope.

His heart ached for them, not just because they were Anakin's kids, but because no child deserved to be put through such a spectacle, and Kenobi guessed, they had probably seen worse.

"Padmé…" the Jedi master tried to reach her again, but this time, she ran outside of the house.

He was about to go after her, when a little hand detained him.

"Don't," Luke Skywalker said. "Let her go. She will be back in an hour probably."

The Jedi blinked in bewilderment. "How do you know?"

"She's gone to the river. And that's usually the time she takes."

Kenobi now blinked away tears.

"Luke, Leia… come here kids."

They did as he said.

"Are you two happy here?" he asked.

The kids nodded along. Of course, they had nothing to compare their happiness to, so he couldn't really be satisfied with their answer.

"Listen, if you ever feel like you don't belong here anymore, I can help you."

"And mother, too?" Luke asked.

"If she'll be willing. You cannot help someone who does not want to be helped."

That made sense in the kids' heads.

"But how could we find you?" Leia asked.

"Use the Force," the Jedi smiled at her.

"The Force?" both children were curious.

Obi-Wan proceeded to explain how the Force gave a Jedi their power. What's a Jedi? They also asked, is that like father? Yes, once, that was true.

Obi-Wan amazed the twins with his knowledge, and when Padmé returned, they asked permission to be trained by Obi-Wan. She denied it, of course.

He left, but Luke and Leia knew, they'd meet again.

 _ **Boy you never told me**_

 _ **True love was going to hurt**_

 _ **True pain I don't deserve**_

 _ **Truth is that I never learn…**_

Padmé's pale face was damn tired of shedding tears.

She was tired of being alone, more than anything.

Her kids left her.

Throughout the years, Luke and Leia talked to Obi-Wan Kenobi through the Force, asking him for advice, as to how to handle their ill mother.

When that communication wasn't enough, the Jedi visited them, and deep in the woods, he talked to them about the Force, about the Rebellion, and the state of the galaxy. Most Force users were in hiding, and the Galactic Empire was still too strong. They had a powerful weapon Kenobi never would've expected. They called it, THE DEATH STAR.

Kenobi was sure Luke and Leia could bring down that horrible weapon, which had already wiped out a few planets.

The twins, now teenagers, decided to leave for Dagobah, where an ancient Jedi master had been hiding.

It hurt them to abandon Padmé, but they knew, _You cannot help someone who does not want to be helped._ And there were millions across the galaxy in need. So they left, which only prompted more madness for poor and lonely Padmé Skywalker.

When they left, they had few words to say to her. After begging her to join the Rebellion, which she quickly and violently denied, they said to her:

"We love you, mother. Please, forget about him. He's not coming back, please, Mother. Give up on the ghost…!"

 _ **Give up the ghost**_

 _ **Give up the ghost**_

 _ **Give up the ghost**_

 _ **Stop the haunting baby…**_

 _ **I keep going to the river…**_

Beautiful was the night, chilly and clear on that forest in Naboo.

Padmé Amidala sat like usual in front of the river, staring at her own reflection hoping to see her husband appear behind her.

And as she saw only herself, the beautiful moon, stars, and woods reflected, she at last, lost all hope.

It hurt too badly.

Was he really never coming back?

She just couldn't stand it.

And just like once Anakin traded his soul for the opportunity of saving his love's life, she too wished for some power to bring back someone from death.

With such grim thoughts, the dark night covered her like a cold blanket.

She stood up and once more, she saw her reflection.

She remembered how she used to yell at herself to stop imagining the ghost, throwing water at her face, so likewise, she did similarly. Just that this time, she didn't say anything at all, she just threw the water at herself, as if with that she could cleanse her thoughts and fears.

But those drops didn't seem enough, so she walked onwards… in a straight line—till she couldn't feel the floor anymore, and then like in Mustafar, she couldn't breathe.

Padmé was drowning.

Her eyes showed her all clear blue around her as they stung her; pain arrived and soon probably death. But that wasn't meant to happen, and if it was, the boy who was born from the Force could stop it, this time.

She felt how she was carried to the top, she felt air on her lungs again, and then she felt the warm Naboo grass below her.

When she opened her red eyes, she saw Anakin's Force Ghost again.

The Ghost caressed her hair and face, it told her that she was still so loved by Anakin Skywalker and that she would always be, but that she must take him as an example, she must learn to let go of attachments… she must let go of his ghost, of his memory, and live long and happily for their children.

She felt a passionate kiss on her wet mouth, and she heard one last "I love you," then he was gone.

 _ **Give up the ghost**_

 _ **Give up the ghost**_

 _ **Give up the ghost**_

 _ **No more haunting baby…**_

"Oh, Anakin! The ghost of you it keeps me awake!"


End file.
